Coverage By Bill Foster, Matt Miller, Rusty Odom & Kent Oglesby
Photos by Bill Foster (unless noted)
There are few festivals that combine as many cultures as Bonnaroo, and there is pride in that for a rag-tag team of writers and photographers from Knoxville, the hometown of festival co-producer AC Entertainment.
One of my favorite things to do is show a first-timer around the grounds and give them little hints on things that will make their experience more enjoyable or convenient. We always says were “from just up the road,” and we feel compelled to make sure the Tennessee hospitality is felt by everyone we encounter.
In an early-afternoon press conference that featured photographer Danny Clinch and BLANK favorites Illiterate Light (Check ‘em out. They’re great.), Clinch caught my attention with something. He has attended each version of the festival on the farm and has, up until this year, photographed every band that plays the festival. “It’s almost like it’s part of my DNA now,” he said when talking about Bonnaroo. While I haven’t been to all of them, this is year 15 and I couldn’t agree more. I feel more comfortable here than I do sitting on my couch at home, mostly because of the things mentioned above.
This year is a little extra special for our group, as our photographer and writer Bill Foster brought his son from Naples, Italy. It’s Julian’s first time in the States that he can remember, and he fits like a glove. It seems to be the same for the bands, too.
Australia’s The Teskey Brothers kicked off day two before Welsh rockers Catfish and the Bottlemen owned the main stage and between them were Las Cafeteras, a Chicano band from L.A. with roots in Son Jarocho, a regional folk music style from Vera Cruz, Mexico. Ibeyi hails from France and played just before Australia’s Courtney Barnett. She continues to see her crowds grow and her pre-headlining set at That Tent spilled into the vendors that surround the stage. Meanwhile, French metal band Gojira were slaying the tent across the field.
See what we’re saying? All these humans traveled to the Volunteer State to hear a little music and make a few new friends along the way. And to hear Childish Gambino, who put on one of the best headlining shows in Bonnaroo history before Phish swelled into the night. Read about these sets and more below. – Rusty Odom
I’m Wide Awake
It’s no accident that BLANK sees and writes about Parquet Courts often. This unique, indie-garage rock band continues their steady momentum to becoming one of the most underrated garage rock bands of all time, bringing their now distinct and diverse collection of songs to festivals across the globe. Parquet Courts draw you in almost immediately, as their songs stretch to each end of the rock and roll spectrum, using traditional, up-tempo power chord progressions and distorted solos to keep the everyone’s head nodding for an hour straight. “I’m Wide Awake” shows the band’s ability to write a hit song and their live audiences love it, a perfect example of the ease in which this band is expanding it’s sound. Parquet Courts has had huge success in the indie/college rock world, and it’s their dedication to both innovative and traditional songwriting that should propel them further. – MM
The Avett Brothers
Longtime fans of bands often struggle with change. The Avett Brothers have come a long way from their days of stomping a hole in the stage of the Preservation Pub back in 2004, far enough that the only thing left for them to accomplish at Bonaroo is a top of the bill headline show. Based on the strength of this performance and the quality of the songs they performed from their new album, that day is surely coming. The Avetts are older now with all the changes that life brings, and this informs their songwriting. While some fans clamor for the floor rattling “I Killed Sally’s Lover” Nirvana with banjos days, these days they write slower, more mature songs that make up in emotion and sincerity for the ferocity of lost youth. Set opener “Vanity” provides a perfect example as Scotts plaintive tenor crooned “I’ve got something to say but it’s all vanity” as everyone in hearing range sang along. After a spirited “Satan Pulls the Strings” that saw the whole band dancing on the lip of the stage, the band played a beautiful version of “Morning Song” with it’s beautiful “You’ll have to find the melody alone refrain.”
Other highlights were “D-bag Rag,” “Talk on Indolence,” “Ain’t No Man,” (with Scott Avett leaping into the crowd to dance) and “Left on Lisa.” The crowd was deafening singing along with “Head Full of Doubt.” Closers included “True Sadness,” “Kick Drum Heart” and “No Hard Feelings” and the live debut of new single “High Steppin’.” All in all, the show was lighter on long time set standards and heavier on newer material, less raucous but still moving and emotional and it seems to mark a transitional point towards a new period when their new album drops in October. – BF
Gojira
I am not normally much of a metal head, but Bonnaroo has a tradition of putting on the occasional legendary metal show, with past alumni including Lamb of God and Slayer. Playing a early (by Farm standards) eight PM show at This Tent, Gojira blew the roof off the tent in front of a small but insane crowd, which continually chanted, screamed, head banged and crowd surfed throughout the short but heavy set. Hailing from Bayonne France, Gojira have had the same lineup since 1998 and it shows in the incredible tightness as the band followed rhythmic shifts and tempo changes with aplomb. The lighting was the best I have ever seen at a metal show and the band spent half the show on top of the speakers exhorting the crowd. Alternating between death metal growls and emo screams, lead singer Joe Duplantier was a revelation. His brother, Mario, was a hurricane on the drums. Gojira are a force. Don’t miss them if you have a chance. – BF
Feels Like Summer
The aforementioned southern hospitality was in full swing when Stone Mountain, Georgia’s Childish Gambino rose from the middle of the crowd for the first of two headlining sets on Friday night. He stood perfectly still during a lengthy intro on a riser before blasting off into orbit and taking the crowd with him for the next hour and a half.
Looking back, it makes sense that he started in the crowd, because he spent more time with the people than any headliner I can remember.
Gambino’s real name is Donald Glover and he’s a generational talent. The word “generational” is not one to throw around lightly, but it’s true. He might be Earth’s most talented and well-rounded person at this moment. If he’s not, I’d like to know who is. He writes and stars in FX’s Atlanta, perhaps the best show on television, and he’s on the top line of festival posters now. And when he gets on stage, he takes the audience to church. I was aware that I might have set the bar too high going in to the set, but expectations were exceeded song after song after song. It stands as one of the most entertaining headlining shows in the 18-year history of Bonnaroo and perhaps the best hip hop performance ever at the festival. – RO
Beach House
In another ode to Bonnaroo’s diversity comes with the perfect placement of the experimental, indie-rock of Beach House, a band who has played the festival before and brings that peaceful, yet driving, sound that is craved after a long, exciting day. Beach House creates incredibly captivating soundscapes, truly an emotional and gripping sound. The band isn’t concerned with themselves. The focus is on the music and visuals, where it’s easy to simply close your eyes, lay in the grass and enjoy. In a night that brought together the Bonnaroo of old (Phish) and new (Childish Gambino/Solange), Beach House is the great in-between, and continues to represent how creative, intelligent music has a place amongst all genres and generations. – MM
Phish
A lot of folks ventured away from What Stage after Childish Gambino and did not return. Those people blew it. Big time. Phish closed down the main stage for a late night set on Friday and showed everyone in attendance what a good ol’ fashion Bonnaroo jamband set is. The good news is, for all the festival attendees who missed this first set, they have another chance coming up on Sunday.
Things really settled in when the band broke into “Tweezer.” Glow sticks were flying through the air while all the Phish phans were belting out, “Step into the freeeezer…” and so on. By that point, the crowd was really grooving, and the hippie dancing was in full effect. It was marvelous.
Trey Anastasio is an absolute rock star in unassuming casual clothes. Donning a black hoodie, he moved about the stage effortlessly flowing with his guitar solos building the energy up and bringing it back down at his whim. Every member of Phish kinda has their own personality, and it’s fun to see them all blend together on stage once the music starts. Page McConnell has his piano fort. Jon Fishman has his signature shirt-dress maximizing his mobility for all his crazy drumming. And Mike Gordon was just over there lookin’ cool on bass.
Honestly, I was a little disappointed in myself that I didn’t recognize more of the songs. “More” was probably my favorite song of the set, and I had never heard it before, having overlooked their 2016 record Big Boat. Caught myself getting a little choked up at the repeated chorus of, “We’re vibrating with love and light, pulsating with love and light, in a world gone mad, there must be something more than this.” What could be more Bonnaroo than that? – KO
Going Big on Which Stage
The “secondary” stage is not so “secondary” any longer. Bonnaroo now fills this stage (especially at night) with major performers, bringing with them elaborate, deliberate and often choreographed performances that bring a main stage experience to the Which Stage. Friday night was no exception, as Grammy-award winner Solange made her return to the United States (first show in U.S. since her new album released in March), and the Kanye-thread meeting, rap collective of Brockhampton. Solange is truly one of the best (and few) R&B pop-star’s around, and she has perfected both her sound and performance. With an incredible backing band, choreographed dancers and sincere audience interaction, Solange proved that following Donald Glover is no challenge after-all. Following her on the Which Stage was Brockhampton, a rap collective who met on a Kanye message board, who brought a replica jet plane for their performance. They’ve developed a devoted following that was singing along to every word as the group roamed the stage, bringing crazy energy to this late night crowd. Dressed in silver jumpsuits, the group brought diversity of the hip-hop and R&B theme of the night, staking their claim for bigger stages in the future. – MM
G.O.A.T.: A Music Legends SuperJam with GRiZ
The SuperJam is always peak Bonnaroo. Last night’s massive set, led by GRiZ and a host of incredible players in the house band, felt like a grand finale that comes just before the halfway point of the festival. Walking away from This Tent, the thought occurred, “Oh my. We still have two days left after that.”
The theme of this year’s SuperJam was “A celebration of music legends,” and it was one big tribute to many of the iconic artists, of whom many have just recently passed away. Hats off to GRiZ and company for the eclectic mix of artists being honored. Just to give a quick rundown of some of the artists that were covered, they did songs from Beastie Boys, Bob Marley, Nirvana, Aretha Franklin, Prince, Johnny Cash, Mac Miller, Nipsey Hus Queen, and a healthy dose of David Bowie. And that’s not nearly all of them! In the Saturday press conference in the media tent, Walk The Moon’s Nicholas Petricca said, “GRiZ and his team did a great job. It was absurd how many different genres they were able to cover.”
One would think that having an EDM act lead the Super Jam that there would be a steady dose of… well… EDM. However, GRiZ took the opportunity to show off his musical chops in other ways lending his talents as a bandleader, hype man, singer, rapper, and saxophonist.
In what must be a nightmare for the production team, there was a huge roster of rotating special guests, and a lot of moving parts to the set. Among the guests were K.Flay, Nicholas from Walk The Moon, Lindsay Ell, Nahko Bear, Rubblebucket, Rainbow Kitten Surprise and so many more super talented singers and musicians.
Among the highlights of the night were K.Flay jumping and hyping up the crowd during Nirvana’s “Lithium,” falling off the stage, and continuing to sing while being hoisted back on to the stage without missing a word. Walk The Moon and Rubblebucket’s duet on “Under Pressure” by Queen and David Bowie was a really special moment as well. Lindsey Ell absolutely killed it on a cover of “Black Hole Sun” by Soundgarden, shredding her guitar while rolling around on the ground for the big finish of the song. The biggest moment perhaps of the entire night was when GRiZ brought on a whole drumline for Avicii’s “Wake Me Up” and for “We Will Rock You,” by Queen. Every song was memorable, and it was an excellent end to Friday night at Roo.
